Whereas most of the road has been tarred the stretch down from Kunzum La towards Batal and eventually Gramphoo is some of the most brilliant bits of off- road we will encounter. One of the last bits of off-road you will find in these mountains. Time to put that Desert X to good use. Hopefully we will find some fun water-crossings and some left over snow on the side of the roads making it even more picturesque than it usually is. We hit beautiful tarmac after a fun 70 odd kms of off-road to head to our evening halt in Jispa.

From Darcha we find our way up Shinkoo La and enter Zanskar Valley with a great descent down to the foot of the mighty Gonbo Ronjon. The off- road section perfect for the Desert X follows the Kargiyak and then the Tsarap river till about 40km before Padum where we find tarmac all the way to our night halt.

After riding for 6 days through some brilliant parts of the Himalayas we take a breather in Padum and get ready for the fun days ahead.

A long but exciting day awaits as we leave after an early breakfast. We ride by the Zanskar river in the gorge till we start the crazy climb to Singge La and then Sirsir La. The road snakes its way back down the pass and comes out just before Lamayuru where we hang our boots up for the night. Lots of soft sand to deal with. But a brilliant day's ride with so much to offer.

After the long day yesterday its a short ride to Leh. We leave after a late breakfast and head towards Alchi where a brilliant local - Ladakhi lunch awaits us. Once recovered from lunch we make short work of the 60 odd km to Leh and spend the evening relaxing and walking around the market of Leh.

Today, as we ride out early, we head over the over four passes of Tanglang La - Still one of our favourites, Nakee la, Lachung la and the mighty Baralacha la in a day. We ride the More plains to find ourselves in Pang for a quick bite and carry on towards Sarchu, Killing Sarai and finally Jispa our last night in the mountains.

From Jispa the ride to Atal Tunnel is a breeze after the last few days. We ride through the tunnel and find ourselves in Manali heading down the mountain towards Chandigarh. Traffic, people and the heat are waiting for us as we get closer to the plains and Chandigarh and an evening of revelry.